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Grain Filling

Hello Nation.

I'm collecting bits for a budget 5 string banjo, just a 12 inch tambourine and a neck through. Thing is I'm flat broke and the only lump of lumber I have that's suitable is English Oak. Lovely looking bit of wood, I've made a ukulele neck from a lump of the same stuff and although it was a bitch to carve it looked great. Trouble is it is very open grained. Now since I'm on a zero cash budget I don't want to be buying grain filler paste if it isn't going to be suitable. Any of you guys have any home recipes? Would using several coats of thick varnish and sanding back before lacquering work? What about superglue mixed with sawdust? or even PVA and sawdust? I'm not too bothered with how it looks I just want a nice smooth surface for playing!

Any help much appreciated!

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Permalink Reply by Reeds Taylor on October 11, 2013 at 3:08am

saw dust and wood glue

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on October 11, 2013 at 5:37am

PVA and sawdust. You may have to thin the glue with water a bit first. Get it as smooth as you can before it dries. It can be really gritty and need a lot of sanding after it dries.

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Permalink Reply by Old Fingers Green on October 11, 2013 at 7:17am

Don't mind a lot of sanding, I had heard of pva and sawdust being used as general wood filler but I wasn't sure if it would be hard enough for this purpose as pva tends to dry a little bit soft I think. Cheers for the response, I might have a go with an offcut see what sort of results I can get.

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Permalink Reply by Yankee Dog on October 11, 2013 at 8:36am

Personally, I like the grain patterns in wood.

Put if you are worried about it. just paint it with gloss latex paint. Just a coat or two will fill most everything.

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Permalink Reply by Old Fingers Green on October 11, 2013 at 9:49am

I do love the grain of this wood but some of the grain is so open it would actually snag my fingers! I'll have a look at that paint but as I said I'd like to keep it as a wood finish as I do love the grain and the colour of the wood!

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Permalink Reply by Wade on October 11, 2013 at 2:52pm

I've used spackle with a little paint mixed in to match. Worked well. Spackle is cheap.

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Permalink Reply by Yankee Dog on October 11, 2013 at 3:50pm

Then just give a go with the sandpaper and maybe some polyurethane. but if you use any sort of filler it will end up looking like poop.

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Permalink Reply by Wade on October 12, 2013 at 2:08am

It works. I've tried it!
http://youtu.be/Zhk6rZ2UI1Y

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Permalink Reply by Old Fingers Green on October 12, 2013 at 3:59am

Perfect! I can't believe I never thought of that, I'm a plasterer, I use that stuff every day! Thanks for the video link, that was exactly the kind of thing I was after!

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on October 12, 2013 at 4:33am

That's awesome. One of my favorite looks is a cherry red stain with black pore filler on an open grain wood... Add some clear coat to it and it looks incredible. I'm off to find a raw wood CB . . .

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Old Fingers Green on October 12, 2013 at 6:02am

Oh I like the sound of that! not sure how good cherry red would look on oak but it sounds worth a shot. Love those old wine red les-pauls, would be great to get something like that on this build.